On January 3, 2026, the USA carried out a unique operation. They managed to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores and transport them from Caracas to New York.
The operation has entered history through the level of its execution. Abducting a head of state from his guarded facility in Caracas and safely transporting him to the USA without a single loss of life among the operating unit is an achievement worthy of the highest recognition.
The question is, what comes next? Nicolas Maduro will be tried by American justice. In order to convict him, the prosecutor will have to present the court with sufficient evidence of the Venezuelan president's guilt in the crime of "narco-terrorism." The court will also have to deal with procedural objections regarding the immunity of a head of state. Maduro is still Venezuela's president according to its constitution. Furthermore, the court must be concerned with the location where his criminal activity was committed, that is, the question of to what extent Nicolas Maduro personally committed criminal activity, even if partially, on US territory. It can be assumed that Nicolas Maduro will defend himself by claiming that he committed nothing illegal, and on the contrary, that he himself is the victim of the crime of kidnapping and that US justice has no jurisdiction to try him. He may argue that the United States itself is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which establishes the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court for particularly serious crimes, based on its own doctrine according to which American citizens can only be tried by American courts. It can be assumed that Nicolas Maduro will claim that according to the same rule, only Venezuelan justice can try him.
Venezuela did sign and ratify the Rome Statute, making it a party to the treaty. However, subsequently in December 2025, the Venezuelan parliament approved a step toward withdrawing from the Rome Statute. Similarly, the United States also signed the mentioned international convention and then withdrew from it. Venezuela, like the United States, has since 2025 refused the jurisdiction of any other state or international judicial authority to which it could extradite its citizen.
I hope that the procedural aspects of the matter are well thought out so that it will withstand due process before an independent court.
Another question is the fulfillment of the USA's actual political plan. The American president called Venezuela "barbaric" and made a solemn promise that the USA would govern Venezuela "properly and professionally" if necessary. (Apparently as its protectorate.)
This is easier said than done. Venezuela is two and a half times larger than Germany in area. It has 28 million inhabitants. According to the constitution, the head of state is now the current vice-president Delcy Rodríguez. She declared that Nicolas Maduro continues to be Venezuela's only president. She did not grant the United States any right to govern her country. She only expressed readiness to negotiate with the USA, to negotiate cooperation. Government members continue to be persons associated with Nicolas Maduro, including hardliner Minister Diosdado Cabello. Other branches of state power exist in Venezuela. Their democratization requires a certain amount of time, and above all a formed force that will fulfill this process.
Donald Trump rejected the possibility that Maria Corina Machado, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and current head of the opposition, would become head of state. She apparently does not have the prerequisites for leading the state. Also, how could democratization take place without holding proper elections? And the USA currently does not permit elections to be held.
So who are the people who will actually ensure proper and professional "American leadership" of the country on the ground, when there are no American armed forces on Venezuelan territory, as there were during the Second Gulf War in Iraq? Nor is there an international coalition of armed forces available, as there was in Afghanistan. Moreover, the USA has bitter experience with military scenarios, with what consequences militarily imposed administration of a country leads to, as Iraq or Afghanistan is today.
It is impossible to be so naive as to think that the majority of inhabitants will welcome foreign – American – administration of their own country, or that people associated with "Chavism" will surrender without a fight, or even that nationally and internationally organized crime connected with the production, distribution, and trade of drugs in Venezuela will end with a one-time US intervention. These dangerous activities must be fought continuously. It can be assumed that even those who oppose Maduro are not prepared to welcome American administration of their country.
Question marks also concern another sensitive topic, the restitution of property belonging to American energy companies on Venezuelan territory. Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez "seized" – nationalized – the property of American companies through a combination of changing the rules of the game by law, using presidential decrees or de facto state takeover of operations, often with an offer of an "agreement" for buyout – or with pressure that the alternative is unilateral takeover. For the "return" of property into the hands of original owners, a series of steps will also be necessary, which the local government or parliament, or Venezuelan justice, will have to take. Even this will not be possible without broad support from political representation.
It is necessary to constantly remind of another Czech question mark. Our citizen Jan Darmovzal has been in prison for 16 months, even though he did nothing illegal. There remains an obligation, a duty of our state to achieve his release. Other states have achieved the liberation of persons in similar cases, only our state has done nothing so far. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs only sent diplomatic notes, activity without effect. The new government is determined to be successful in this matter. Involvement primarily falls on President of the Republic Petr Pavel. He now has the opportunity and task to personally negotiate with acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez and achieve the release of our citizen. Until now, he objected that he could not negotiate with Nicolas Maduro because he did not consider him a legitimate head of state. Now nothing prevents him from beginning to act.
And so the brilliantly executed operation at the outset must be the beginning of the country's democratization, the promotion of the rule of law. It must not become a nightmare of the future. The worst must not happen – some new armed conflict in the region or a civil guerrilla war.
Cyril Svoboda
